Arthur Mendonça’s return to Toronto Fashion Week is a smash hit

Arthur Mendonça, fresh from a triumphant return to fashion week last season, showed another collection sure to wow buyers and critics alike (it wowed us, at the very least). Mendonça’s move back to Toronto Fashion Week (last year he showed during Rogue Fashion Week) was a superbly well-attended affair: even those lucky enough to nab a seat (it was standing-room only for latecomers) were squished together like sardines, presumably thanks to the FDCC’s overzealous ticket selling. Although we remember the fashions fondly, our most vivid memory is being smashed in a line the entire evening alongside models Yasmin Warsame and Stacey McKenzie (never one to steal focus, she vamped on the runway in an IZMA fur ballgown), hairstylist Jie Matar, rising starlet Sarah Gadon, Fashion Television dude Glen Baxter,Dragon’s Den star Arlene Dickinson and songstress Keshia Chante, who all showed up to support Mendonça and sat with feet firmly planted in the front row. Check out Mendonça’s full show after the jump.

We thought the entire collection was stunning: peplums (a huge trend from the runways of Milan and Paris this season) on herringbone-print blazers, low-cut jackets and gold-printed dresses, hardware on dresses and black leather trenches, and floral prints with bright bursts of pink, orange and purple were among some of the best looks of the night. But our absolute favourite items were the knee-length dresses in copper and magenta with pleats and golden buttons down the front. Let’s not even mention the rust-coloured sleeved dresses with makeshift sweetheart necklines, since we’ve already fawned far too much. Androgynous model Andrej Pejic walked the runway in a copper pantsuit and blue shirt, but we were disappointed with how the Mendonça team used him—if you’ve got an internationally famous model who can pull off six-inch heels, put him in them, or at least use him to close or open the show. We spotted Warsame and McKenzie laughing uproariously across the runway during the show (if only we were in on that knock-knock joke—we’re sure it was been hilarious) but they were the only ones: the rest of us were too busy gushing over Mendonça’s return to Toronto Fashion Week.